


We Fly With Our Spirit

by VeraBAdler



Series: October 2018 challenges [24]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Human Castiel, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 04:31:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16401356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeraBAdler/pseuds/VeraBAdler
Summary: Newly human Castiel can't sleep, and it's really stressing Dean out.Fictober prompt: “You knows[sic]this, you know this to be true.”Promptober prompt: Ghibli





	We Fly With Our Spirit

After Cas showed up at the Bunker, bloodied and shivering, and announced that he would soon be irrevocably human, Dean had given him every allowance. Go three days without eating and then inhale two pizzas in a single sitting? Cool, cool. Stay up for nine days and then sleep through an entire weekend? You do you, buddy. It was inconvenient having someone in their space who lived on such an erratic timetable. But Dean figured Cas was going through a whole lot and deserved to be left to work his shit out in his own way.

But it's been weeks now, and while Dean's managed to chivy him into a semi-regular schedule of meals, his sleep is still all over the place. Dean knows this because Cas's room is right across the hall, and he can hear every restless pace, every midnight movie, every coming and going of a body that should be in bed and asleep but emphatically is _not_.

Dean Winchester is no hypocrite. God knows he's never been on the “eight hours a night” plan, but he tries to get his regular four to six, and as far as he can tell, lately Cas is averaging more along the lines of zero. Cas's wakefulness is starting to mess with _Dean's_ sleep, not because he's loud or anything but because Dean's _worried_ , okay? He lays in his bed and he listens to Cas moving around quietly in the middle of the night and he can't relax and drift off because he's worried about his friend.

It's the third night in a row that Dean has spent staring into the dark of his room and listening to Cas _not_ being asleep, and he cracks. He's up and out of bed, knocking on Cas's door before he's decided what he's going to say when the door is opened. And then there's Cas, a little bleary-eyed but smiling. “Hello, Dean,” he says softly. Cas's laptop is on the bed, screen paused on an animated scene – a girl is riding a broomstick over a seaside town, a black cat by her side.

“Hey Cas, whatcha doin'?”

“I'm watching a movie.”

“Okay, but it's like 3:30 in the morning. Shouldn't you be asleep?”

Cas shrugs and looks at his feet. “Sleep is... I find it difficult.”

“It's difficult for you to lay down and close your eyes?”

“No, I can manage that part, at least. But then I can't get the blankets to warm up. Or my leg itches. Or my mattress is lumpy. Or I can hear the blood moving inside my ears and it's too loud. So usually I get up and look through the books in the library. Or I watch a movie. This one is very good, Dean.” He gestures to the laptop, eyes still downcast. “It's about a young witch who must leave her family and find her own place in the world.”

“Sounds great, buddy, but it's not healthy for you to go without sleep. Hate to remind you but you're human now, and humans need to rest. You know this, Cas,” he reaches out his hand, puts two fingers to his friend's jaw to lead his gaze up off the floor. “You know it's true. You're gonna get sick if you don't take better care of your body.”

“...I am aware, Dean,” he replies curtly. “But I can't force myself to fall asleep. What would you have me do?”

Dean yawns and rubs his hand over his face. It's too damn late in the day for conversation. “Man, come here.” He takes Cas's hand and pulls him across the hall. “Try bunking with me tonight. My mattress is way nicer than that shitty Men of Letters cot. And my blankets are already nice and warm. I really wanna be back in between them, in fact, so lay the hell down with me already.”

“Dean... Are you sure?”

“Yeah, Cas. I'm tired of worrying about you. This way I'll know you're not poking into something you shouldn't touch in the archives and I'll know you're getting your rest. C'mon.” They climb into the bed side by side and Dean tucks the blankets up snugly around them both. “Comfortable?”

Cas sighs. “Yes, this bed is _much_ nicer than mine. Thank you, Dean.”

“Any time, Cas. I care about you, man. I want the best for you.” He turns onto his side, fitting an arm under Cas's pillow and pulling him into a hug. “Now, catch me up on that movie. We can watch the rest of it in the morning.”

**Author's Note:**

> Rebloggable link for this fic is on tumblr [here](https://blessyourhondahurley.tumblr.com/post/179398505866/october-24-we-fly-with-our-spirit-verabadler).


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